Thursday, April 30, 2015

Chicanonautica: Hey, Muchacho/as! Lowriders in Space!

Cartooning is a
big thing among Chicanos. You see a lot of it on walls and in the schools, in and
on notebooks. We don't usually get published,
though. Most Chicano cartoonists get it beat out of them and end up in real jobs to support their families – if they're
lucky they can get away with drawing on the backroom walls of their
workplace.

Check out Lalo
Delgado's poem, “Stupid America” for more on this subject.

Meanwhile,
Lowriders in Space, written by Cathy Camper and illustrated
by Raúl the Third, materialized in the library where I work. It's a
comic book – I'm the only one who thinks that the term “graphic
novel” is pretentious? – for kids, shelved just after the middle
reader/chapter books, for the under 12 crowd. At that age, I prefered
real comic books – the kind you bought at the neighborhood liquor
store, but this one looked like a bit of Chicanonautica for the new
generations, so I checked it out.

It's a cartoony
fantasy with talking animals in the barrio. Their leader is female,
Lupe Impala. And flipping through it, I noticed references to
Cantinflas and renderings of customized cars that reminded me of my
school days – Raúl inks with ballpoint pens, hijacking the
available technology! I was also reminded of Hot Rod Cartoons, and
CARtoons, the gateway reading between Mad Magazine and
underground comix. Upon reading it, I was won over.

Though not hard
science, this fantasy encourages the imagination to go wild with art
and technology, working to create your own future instead of buying
it off the rack. A bit of lowrider philosphy that will help the
muchacho/as of the 21st century.

It also has
educational footnotes and a glossary, explaining the Spanish words and lowrider culture.

This is a book
that can be read to younger kids, be read by the beginning readers,
and enjoyed by adults.

It can also help
enlighten people in places like Arizona, where some gringos think
that lowriders practice human sacrifice and cannibalism.

“Book 1” on
the cover suggests that more are in the works, which gives me hope for
the future.

Ernest Hogan
isn't a lowrider or a cannibal, and does not practice human
sacrifice, but will probably never win a Hugo or a Nebula award.